Eclipse 2006 Trip

Day 2 - Naples

We woke at 8 this morning and after breakfast walked the deck. Just before we reached Naples (Napoli) we passed between 2 islands. These are inhabited and very picturesque. (You can judge for yourself below.) We had our first presentation by Sky & Telescope magazine, outlining the plans for the cruise and the eclipse. There are 4 or 5 people who will be giving presentations on various aspects of Astronomy in the upcoming week. I am especially looking forward to the one that deals with videoing the eclipse, as that is my plan. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

During the presentation the ship docked at Naples. After grabbing a bite to eat, my wife, Bonnie, and I left the ship for some personal exploring of the city. The first order of business was to find an Internet Cafe or access point. (The Internet service onboard the ship is slow, costly, and, most importantly, does not allow for the uploading of files of any kind.) We were about to cross a street when several cars and Vespas (motor-scooters) came out of nowhere and almost ran us over. A gentleman walked up, paused traffic and told us to follow him. He helped us safely negotiate crossing several streets. Now I grew up in Manhattan and know my way around traffic, but Naples is crazy. There are few stop lights in the city and the ones that function are frequently ignored. Crosswalks exist but are no guarantee of safe passage as Vespas can (and do) go anywhere . Anyway, this gentleman said that he was a cook on the ship, had seen us and figured we needed a little help. He then said that he was going to the castle at the top of the hill to buy presents for his 2 grandchildren, and would we like to come along. We said sure and that led to a neat time we would not otherwise have had.

He led us to the Funicolare, a subway that rides up the side of the hill and is designed with the cars slanted. We arrived at the top station and had a few blocks to walk up to the castle. We bid farewell to our "guide" knowing that we would have to find our own way back. From the castle walls the views of the city were excellent, if not on the windy side. (Pictures below.) The trip back down was an adventure in its own right, but the short version is that we found our way with few difficulties. After reaching the bottom of the funiculare we looked for the Internet access point and were able to upload entries for day 0 and day 1. It looks like we will have to do all our publishing from Internet cafes, which means that the days at sea will have no entries until we make a port call and even then, I am not sure how good Internet service is in Africa.

On deck off the coast of Naples.
Bonnie checking out the view.
An island off the island. There is a causeway connecting the two.
Slide from the Sky & Telescope presentation.
Castle St. Elmo overlooking Naples.
A view from Castle St. Elmo.
The ship dock from Castle St. Elmo.
Another view of Naples.
The wall of the castle.
The funicolare subway.
Look at all those bikes and scooters.
The streets of Naples.
The "New" castle in Naples.